Chinese company 3D printed a mansion

Remember that anti-pirating ad “You wouldn't download a car”, or something along those lines?

Maybe “you wouldn't download a house?” Yes, you would. And now you basically can. Well, at least a Chinese construction company named Winsun can.

They recently showcased their two largest 3D printed buildings. Yes, buildings.

At the Suzhou Industrial Park, Winsun showed a five-story apartment building, and a three-story mansion covering an area of 1,100 square meters, Neowin reports. Both buildings are just proof of concept as they are not interiorly decorated. Last year they managed to 3D print 10 houses in just one day, with victims of natural disasters in mind.

Now they are taking their business to the next level, creating entire buildings. These buildings were made using a technique called “extrusion deposition”, which basically means sorting layers upon layers of materials to create the walls. After creating walls and roofs, they use pre-fabricated materials to finish the building.

With the costs of 3D printers, as well as materials used to create 3D printed designs going down, the technology has become even more widespread.

Not so long ago, an astronaut at the International Space Station 3D printed a socket wrench in space, complete with ratchet action. He used the digital plans that were sent by Nasa’s mission control from Earth via email. And on this year’s CES we saw 3D printed guitars, evening dresses, and even edible 3D printed pizzas.